---
name: "pac"
section: "8"
platform: "linux"
package: "lpr"
version: "1:2008.05.17.3+nmu3.1"
release: "Debian 13 (Trixie)"
platforms: ["linux", "freebsd"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/pac"
---

# pac(8)

printer/plotter accounting information

## NAME

**pac** – printer/plotter accounting information

## SYNOPSIS

**pac** \[**-cmrs**\] \[**-P***printer*\] \[**-p***price*\] \[*user* *...*\]

## DESCRIPTION

**pac** reads the printer/plotter accounting files, accumulating the number of pages (the usual case) or feet (for raster devices) of paper consumed by each named *user*, and prints out how much each user consumed in pages or feet and dollars.

When no *user* arguments are given, statistics are printed for every user who has used any paper.

The options are as follows:

- **-P***printer*

  Accounting is done for the named printer. Normally, accounting is done for the default printer (site dependent) or the value of the environment variable PRINTER is used.

- **-c**

  Causes the output to be sorted by cost; usually the output is sorted alphabetically by name.

- **-m**

  Causes the host name to be ignored in the accounting file. This allows for a user on multiple machines to have all of his printing charges grouped together.

- **-p***price*

  The value *price* is used for the cost in dollars instead of the default value of 0.02 or the price specified in */etc/printcap*.

- **-r**

  Reverse the sorting order.

- **-s**

  Accounting information is summarized on the summary accounting file; this summarization is necessary since on a busy system, the accounting file can grow by several lines per day.

## OUTPUT FORMAT

**pac** formats the output into a simple table, using four columns:

1. The host name followed by the user's login name (column "Login"). If the **-m** option was specified, the host name will be omitted.

2. The number of pages or feet printed (column "pages/feet").

3. The number of copies made (column "runs").

4. The total price for the user (column "price").

If no *user* argument was specified, **pac** will print a summary line with print totals.

## FILES

- */var/account/?acct*

  raw accounting files

- */var/account/?\_sum*

  summary accounting files

- */etc/printcap*

  printer capability database

## SEE ALSO

[printcap(5)](/printcap/5.md)

## HISTORY

The **pac** command appeared in 4.0BSD.

## BUGS

The relationship between the computed price and reality is as yet unknown.